Laura Whitmore gives candid interview about pregnancy with glossy photo shoot

Laura Whitmore has been talking candidly about her pregnancy (Ian West/PA)

Love Island host Laura Whitmore has opened up about her pregnancy as she posed for a photo shoot saying as her body has changed she has “felt very protective of my baby bump”.

The Irish star, 35, and Scottish comedian Iain Stirling are expecting their first child in “early 2021”.

The couple announced the news on social media on Wednesday amid reports they married last month.

Whitmore, who also recently made her debut as a team captain on ITV’s Celebrity Juice, told Hunger Magazine: “It’s really surreal. It’s mad.

“Nothing and no-one ever tells you that it is your own personal experience.

“One thing I’ve learned is that everyone has an opinion: what you should be doing, or how you should be feeling.

“I found the first three months really hard because I was very sick and nauseous. There were a few times on live radio where I actually got physically sick during the show”.

Iain Stirling thanked everyone for their ‘kind words’ on Instagram following the announcement he and Laura Whitmore are to become parents (PA)

The BBC Radio 5 Live presenter shared pictures of her photo shoot for the magazine on Instagram, writing alongside them that she had “spent almost 6 months hiding or being conscious of my body (well to be honest I’ve spent over 30 years doing this). But in particular as my body changed I have felt very protective of my baby bump”.

“I’ve seen all sorts of comments ‘oh Laura’s had a boob job’ ‘her legs are too skinny’ ‘has she put on weight? ‘ ‘she needs to eat more cake!’ I want to say a massive thank you to Ryan and everyone at @hungermagazine for giving me the space to talk about my pregnancy on my terms and in my words”.

Whitmore and Stirling, who has narrated Love Island since 2015, met at a TV awards ceremony in 2016 but did not get together until later.

She also told the magazine that the pregnancy was unplanned.

She said: “What I’ve learnt in life is that planning doesn’t work. Things just happen. Nothing this year has been a plan!

“I think everything happens for a reason, as soon as you try to control things, in some ways that is out of your hands.

“I feel very lucky and blessed. As a timing thing, it probably wasn’t something that we thought about, it was a nice surprise.

“So I’m due at the beginning of next year and I think things just fall into place”.

Hunger magazine was launched by photographer Rankin.

The full interview, with pictures by Claire Rothstein, is on on hungertv.com.